The Inevitable End
by Ceretis Paribus
Summary: Only Aizen remains and one man will take him down. Ukitake, Shunsui, Unohana, Yamamoto, Yoruichi. Character death! Involves most of the captains of SS. Now SS needs to be rebuilt!
1. Chapter 1

**The Inevitable End**

These last months of the battle had been excruciating for both parties. They'd been fighting, killing, exhausting each other to the point now where there hardly were any left to fight. Last night the last ancarrar officer had been destroyed, but the costs had been devastating. The Captain Commander had died this morning from his injuries and Shunsui was still battling for his life.

However, this was not the time to grief, but to focus at the situation at hand.

Now only Aizen remained.

Ukitake sat on the edge of his bed in his private quarters, starring into the nothingness his eyes provided. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. All was destroyed; Soul Society lay in ruins, half the populations gone at the very least. The losses were irreparable; Kenpachi, Mauyri, kommamura, Yamamoto and now perhaps Shunsui as well. Immediately after Yamamoto's death had Ukitake been announced acting Captain Commander.

Byakuya, hitsugaya, and Soi Fong were badly injured as well. It seemed the only standing were himself, Unohana, Urahara, and Kurosaki.

His eyes caught a glimpse of his new captain's coat and he didn't like it. In fact he refused to wear it until there had been a proper voting. At that Unohana had just laughed at him and said; "there might not ever be one, dear Ukitake-taichou."

Dear Unohana had lost so much weight during the months of war that she hardly was recognizable. Now that he came to think of it, so had Byakuya that had been injured on and off ever since the war began. He was almost ashamed that despite illness he was fine.

The sun passed zenith and Ukitake got to feet and he had this strange feeling that he was floating, that his ears were stuffed with cotton. He felt numb.

He was walking. He could see that, yet he couldn't remember how he arrived at the 4th division.

"Ukitake-taichou," he suddenly heard muttered in Unohana gentle voice. He became aware of his surrounding again and he found himself next to Shunsui's sick bed. Unohana was standing in the door.

"Yes," he answered. Unohana looked at him with an examinating look.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yes, off course," he answered per automatic. He turned his gaze on the figure lying on the bed, "-how he doing?

"It's hard to say, but I promise that I'm doing the best I can," Unohana whispered.

"Off course, I can ask no more of any man or woman," Ukitake answered mostly to himself. Unohana felt his distance and took her leave.

Looking at the all too pale Shunsui on the bed, without the ridiculous hat and pink haori, he knew what to do. It became all to clear all of a sudden. _To do one's best_. He knew that Shunsui would never allow him to do what he was going to do now, but it appeared that fate had left him no choice.

For the second he got to feet and it seemed he had lost a little more feeling of his body.

"Gomenasai," he whispered and kissed Shunsui lovingly on his forehead, "- sayonara, Shunsui."

ooo

Ukitake had left the captain's coat by Shunsui's side and he felt like he was losing himself the more and more for every step he took leading away from Soul Society.

He knew that Aizen wouldn't miss the opportunity to fight him out in the open. Ukitake felt the anticipation of battle filling him up, like never before, he felt stride becoming more determined, his breathing more regular, and his body stronger. By midnight it would all be over.

He stopped dead in his track, feeling approaching reiatsu. It relieved him somewhat that it wasn't Aizen – he was nowhere near far enough away from the city for it to be safe to fight.

Kurosaki Ichigo appeared with Orihime.

"Ukitake-taichou," Ichigo greeted. Ukitake merely made a nod of acknowledgement of their presence.

"Ukitake-taichou, what are you doing alone all the way out here?" Ichigo asked with badly hid concern in his voice.

"It doesn't matter," Ukitake answered bluntly with a powerful voice so unlike him. Orihime broke in, breaking Kurosaki's concentration.

"We just wanted to know what we can do to help, Ukitake-taichou," she squealed in a high pitched tone.

"Orihime, if you really want to help, you will attend the wounded in the 4th division." There was this voice again. It wasn't at all like the cough battered voice he was used to, this was cleaner, deeper. It was different. Orihime took off when she saw Ichigo wanting to speak to Ukitake.

Ichigo studied ukitake's eyes intently to try and figure out what was so different about him. Then it hit him. Before him stood a man, ready to make the ultimate sacrifice.

"What is this, Ukitake-taichou?," Ichigo asked in a low voice. Ukitake tried unsuccessfully to reassure Ichigo with a smile, but failed miserably.

"I make this pledge to you, Ichigo, and to Soul Society and especially Shunsui," Ukitake began solemnly, "-that Aizen will not live beyond this night!"

Ichigo nodded the impact of the words on his chest heavy. He truly felt the man's resolution.

"Do you know where he is?" Ichigo asked. To his surprise Ukitake just shook his head.

"No, but I have an idea," Ukitake answered without meeting the young boy… no…young man's gaze.

"What can I do?" Ichigo asked.

"Keep people away from the battle ground so I don't have to worry killing innocence,"

"You mean innocents?

"Yes! Yes, off course," Ukitake smiled, "-tidal waves have the tendencies to not discriminate"

Ichigo didn't quite understand, but held eye contact for a moment longer.

"Arigatou, Ukitake-Soutaichou. For everything."

"Arigatou to you too," he answered and flash stepped into the distance, further in to the belly of the beast.

ooo

It was a funny thing to know exactly when to stop, when he didn't know the directions to, nor the name of the place he was going.

It was nothing but a waste land, a dessert. The sand out here was about as nutritious as Shunsui's everyday diet. There was nothing to destroy out here.

He needed to prepare for Aizen's perfect illusions. And he had seen just how perfect they were, even the feel of reiatsu could he manipulate. Ukitake had one advantage though; Aizen had never seen his bankai. Still, to avoid being fooled by the illusions he would have to loose himself completely.

The power within him was about to burst to get out. It screamed to be let loose, it had been held captive for so long, but he forced it down though he didn't want to. There was no reason to scare Aizen off just yet.

At that very moment the heavens opened up and revealed Aizen with that usual creepy smile on his face.

"Ukitake? I'm surprised," Aizen began as he floated down to the ground, "-I though 3 months of war time would have been enough to knock you of your feet with that cough of yours. I see that I was mistaking."

"Aizen," Ukitake acknowledged with a tone not unlike Byakuya's and closed his eyes.

"How's old man Yamamoto doing?" Aizen asked, his smile broadening.

"He's dead," answered Ukitake without at all changing expression. Even Byakuya would have been proud. Aizen's smile died a little, when the desired reactions didn't come.

"How's Shunsui?" he then dared, the smile returning. Ukitake took a breath.

"He's still hanging on to life."

"Ah, pity!" Aizen commented and looked closely at Ukitake daring to come a few steps closer, "-you do know that closing your eyes won't help against my illusions, right?"

"Off course not," Ukitake answered simply.

"Hm," Aizen's smile disappeared from his lips, "-aren't you going to attack me?" Much to aizen's surprise Ukitake smile at this. Not one of his normal good natured smiled, but it was a bitter one. For a moment he thought he saw evil.

"I'm sure you've already initiated," Ukitake answered and it wasn't until now aizen noticed the different voice. Ukitake released shikai, still with his eyes closed, "-I'm ready. How about you, Aizen Sosuke?"

He sneered and then drew his sword and ran towards Ukitake. It could be an illusion, it might not be, but Ukitake focused on the massive electric energy the surged through him. He found what he was looking for and released some of the energy.

ooo

Aizen didn't know what happened. He was lying on the ground, breathing hard, and the harsh smell of burned flesh filled the air. Then he felt weight on his chest and he opened his eyes to find Ukitake with one knee on him. Ukitake leaned in over him, not caring about the proximity and then whispered in his ear:

"I've got you now." He straightened up again. Aizen, it seemed were too taken aback to react.

"Bankai," Ukitake yelled so loud it must have been audible miles away and he released more of the trapped energy.

Aizen merely watched as Ukitake opened his eyes, only to reveal that they'd changed colour to an electric blue. The sky started to turn black and with that Ukitake's hair as well. Everything around them went completely black, swallowing the light until Ukitake's two sword began to glow blueish and they became longer, more slender. The chain that connected them sizzled with electricity.

It appeared they where caught in a space without time or place. An ear deafening roar was heard from all directions and Aizen suddenly noticed the prominent blueish line following the horizon all the way around.

"What is this? How were you able to see through the illusion?

"A lightning bolt doesn't care about appearances, sound, or even reiatsu. It strikes where it's the easiest to get in the ground. For an example a lifted sword," Ukitake answered calmly, "-What is Aizen really without his perfect illusion? Let's see the man behind the mask!"

Ukitake released his hold on Aizen and backed away, allowing him to get on his feet again. Aizen did so very slowly. This seemed so out character for Ukitake, the hair, the voice, the eyes only added to this, but he seemed so different than the Ukitake he thought he knew. This one seemed almost arrogant, evil, uncaring.

He pulled himself together.

"This is very impressive, Ukitake, but I'm not done yet!" Aizen exclaimed. Ukitake's intense eyes became even more evil looking.

"Aizen, have you ever felt the fury of the sea. Have you ever grasped the power of a storm? Have you ever seized the force of a lightning?" He asked.

"Yes," answered Aizen his questions and as the words made their impact it became all too clear how small he was. This was one of the oldest zanpakutous he was against. Wielded by Yamamoto's 2000 year old prodigy.

"Then there should be no doubt in you either. You are going to die tonight. Will you rather be electrocuted, drown, or fight me like the Death God you once was?"

Aizen felt as though cold water was running down his back, but he hid it beneath a sneer and made ready for another attack.

He conjured an illusion like never before and went straight for Ukitake. Ukitake saw all that the illusion wanted him to, but not how it was suppose to mislead him into believing that Aizen was attacking from another position than he really was. It was an illusion inside an illusion.

However, nothing had changed from the first time Aizen attacked and Ukitake let the atmosphere fill with electricity and a lightning bolt hit the real Aizen again, knocking him off his feet and severely burning him.

"This is too easy a way out for such a person such as you, Aizen!" Ukitake said and with one swift movement with the right sword he separated the head from the body, leaving nothing to coincidence.

Ukitake closed his eyes, stumbled back a few steps, and opened them again, but they still refused to focus. He was the two parted body beneath him and he accidentally dropped the right sword.

As soon as the sword touched the ground the roar from the horizon ten folded and Ukitake swiftly picked it up again, realizing that it was the tidal wave that had set off.

He needed to stop it, with all his might, he needed to stop it. He fell to his knees and closed his eyes again, concentrating like rarely before. He slipped into a trance, slowly becoming one with the water. Excruciatingly slow.

It took him hours before the wave decided to disappear and the electric atmosphere with. It was midnight when the two swords became one again.

"There he is," someone yelled. There were several voices that answered. Ukitake didn't want to have company. He just needed to sit there until the strange feeling went away, the feeling that filled him with desire to hurt somebody.

He felt a large hand on his shoulder.

"Jyuu," was uttered in a deep tender voice. Ukitake recognized the voice and struggled to see through the fog.

"Shunsui," he realized in a tone that revealed no emotion. Shunsui looked at him with concern. He had seen this a couple of times before, the black hair, the blue eyes, and the trance like state.

"You're fool! You know that, right! And don't you ever do that again!" Shunsui whispered.

"What's wrong with him?" said an outside voice.

"That's difficult to explain," Shunsui began,"-his zanpakutou has two personalities; one good, and one bad. When he releases bankai the bad one possesses him and his hair turns black and his eyes blue.

He had once told me that when he's like this he has to fight the urge to kill," Shunsui sighed,"-it'll be weeks before he's back to normal and as he does that his body will become weaker and weaker. It'll be months before he's truly over it"


	2. Chapter 2

**What Lies Beyond t****he Inevitable End **

When Ukitake's new hair colour didn't start to fade two weeks after Shunsui immediately starting fussing

"Are you sure you're alright?" he kept on asking.

"Yes, Shunsui! For the 5th time, I'm perfectly fine," Ukitake answered probably for the 10th time. He still had the monotone voice, so unlike his normal one and he still slightly acted like a blind man with the eerie blue eyes.

"Harsh," Shunsui just answered and tried to get out of the chair he was sitting in, but was cut short halfway due to evident pain.

"I'm the one he should be asking you that question, Shunsui," he then commented in a little warmer tone.

"I'm fine," Shunsui grunted "- Nanao took the sake away though." Ukitake gave half a smile, but still didn't meet Shunsui's eyes. Ukitake stood up.

"I have to get back to work," he stated and walked out. Shunsui simply looked at Ukitake's retreating figure with concern. He didn't like the behaviour.

Ukitake met up with a worn looking 1st division's fukutaichou Sasakibe, who dutifully bowed.

"Ukitake-soutaichou, Kuchiki-taichou's in your office waiting for you," he informed, very formally.

"Thank you, Sasakibe-fukutaichou," Ukitake answered and walked right passed him, directly into the office that seemed so foreign to him.

Byakuya Kuchiki was so surprised with Ukitake's look he completely failed to greet the man when he came through the door.

"Kuchiki-taichou, how good to see you up and about," Ukitake started as he sat down opposite of Byakuya, but without any kind of emotion, "-what can I do for you?"

The injured captain before him could do nothing but stare. Byakuya had never been so baffled before in his entire life. The good natured, white haired, sickly captain seemed to have vanished completely.

"Byakuya, today please!" Ukitake interrupted.

"I apologize, Senpai," Byakuya said, "- I wanted to hear how it happened."

Ukitake furrowed his brow and for the first time today, met another's eyes.

"And you couldn't have waited until the captains meeting this afternoon?" Ukitake kept eye contact, "-there's not much to tell, Kuchiki-taichou,"Ukitake began with an evil smile, "-I beheaded him."

"I see," byakuya stuttered, not at all liking the smile.

Then all of a sudden Ukitake's eyes darkened and he sank back into his chair, clutching his chest as he did so. The pain was so intense he forgot to breathe and he felt himself double over. Tears started to stream down his cheeks and he gasped as his body demanded oxygen. He lost grasp of his surroundings as the pain intensified to the extent where he couldn't take it anymore and he screamed. He screamed until he had no more air in his lungs and unbeknownst to him, he released all his spiritual energy he had been keeping under control for almost 2 long weeks.

All of Soul Society felt it. Like a shock wave of energy it knocked every one of their feet and it was followed up by a spirit pressure that stole the air out of lungs.

Half a mile away, Shunsui was knocked off his seat, spilling sake all over the floor, but as soon as he felt it, he knew what had happened. He ignored the burning pain from the wound in his right side and flash stepped directly the 1st division office.

Ukitake was on his knees behind the desk still clutching his chest and Shunsui simply lifted him up with his massive hands and shook him.

"Jyuushirou Ukitake, you get this under control now!" Shunsui yelled. Ukitake didn't know what it was with Shunsui's voice that always reached him, but it did. He opened his eyes, and Shunsui was at the least glad to see that they'd had turned a little darker even though still were blue, but he didn't like the pain that clouded them.

Ukitake noticed that his reiatsu was completely released and immediately recognized the danger that meant.

"Jyuu, get it under control," Shunsui repeated,"-poor Byakuya here's choking and quite frankly, so am I." Ukitake then realized that Shunsui indeed hardly was breathing at all.

"Yes," Ukitake then answered and reined the massive reiatsu again, making it vanish as soon as it had been released.

With the pressure gone, Shunsui fell to his knees and coughed. At that sound Ukitake immediately tilted his head like a puppy would do, when hearing a new sound for the first time, while looking at Shunsui with undivided attention. The cough stopped, but Ukitake remained indifferent. Shunsui looked back at him with worry. The electric blue eyes were back full scale, and he didn't care much for the way Ukitake was looking at him. It almost seemed like Ukitake didn't recognize him.

On the other side of the desk Byakuya starting gasping for breath. He, no doubt, had been hit harder than any other by the spirit pressure, fortunately he was used to dealing with relatively high levels.

"Jyuu, your condition's not getting any better," Shunsui said solemnly as he stood up again and he wasn't referring to Ukitake's health.

"No?" Ukitake commented, not seeming to care. He didn't even help the ailing 6th captain that struggled to get back on his feet with his injuries. Byakuya had a look of shock on his face; he never realized that his old senpai contained such power. It was common knowledge that he was old Yamamoto's prodigy, but he had just shown why.

Unohana barged through the door with a look of true terror in her eyes.

"What happened?" she asked and looked at the odd looking at the odd assembly of people that filled the room. Her eyes caught Ukitake's and it was with sadness she recognized that his eyes had, if possible, turned even bluer.

Unohana had to rip her eyes off Ukitake and on to Byakuya who was struggling to stay on his feet.

"Kuchiki-taichou, are you alright," she asked in a motherly voice. Byakuya just nodded and waved her off and allowed himself to sit down in the chair, placed in the middle of the room.

Her attention returned to Ukitake. He looked healthy enough; he wasn't coughing, wasn't weak, and he was able to keep his weight up even under these trying conditions with rebuilding Soul Society. She approached him with caution.

"Your reiatsu is still unstable, Ukitake-taichou," she started,"-what's happening to you and are Soul Society in danger?"

Shunsui admired her courage, but he chose to keep quiet this time and much to his surprise Unohana's approach seemed to work. Ukitake's eyes fluttered and he sat back down in his office chair. He thought for a moment and then looked at Unohana. His gaze felt softer.

"I don't know," he admitted, "-I've never felt this way before."

"How do you feel, Ukitake-taichou?" she logically asked.

"Numb, mostly," he whispered, "-but then there are times where I feel an immense anger just waiting to explode under the surface"

Silence reigned. Byakuya, Unohana and Shunsui were taking in the information. Shunsui tensed when Ukitake unsheathed his sword, but fortunately he just placed it on the desk in front them all.

"Seems that the wave spirit has weakened now that I think of it," he told in a low voice, much more humane than anything Shunsui had heard from him in two weeks, "- I had a miscommunication with her during the Bankai."

"Her?" asked Byakuya.

"Yes, the wave spirit. The other one's male," Ukitake answered curtly.

"So the good spirit's weakened?" Shunsui immediately concluded.

"No, they're not good or evil. They just have different personalities; the wave spirit has all the patience in the world, whereas the Lightning spirit is a bit more hot tempered," Ukitake explained, "-perhaps I need to communicate with the sword."

"Sounds like that might be in order. If anyone beneath fukutaichou level had been in this office you might just have killed them," Unohana pointed out. Ukitake furrowed his brow, but didn't meet her eyes. She felt slightly more secure about Ukitake. It seemed like he had figured the situation out.

"At any rate I can't do it before tonight. We after all have a captains meeting in less than an hour," Ukitake reasoned and sheathed the sword again, "-if you'll excuse me, I have work that need to finished before the meeting."

They all nodded and left, Shunsui helping the weakened Byakuya. Ukitake sank back into the chair. Why had he let it come to this, he should have realized…

He hadn't heard the door open. In fact he didn't sense that anyone was in the room before a very characteristic voice filled the room.

"Where the Hell's Yamamoto?" to say that Ukitake was shocked would have been an understatement. It broke down all his defences and he felt himself black out.

Ukitake woke up again and found himself in a very delicate situation. He was panting, his body shaking with strain.

He then met one panicked eye and one patch. Kenpachi?! He then realized what was happening. He was pinning Kenpachi against the wall with his unsheathed sword against the larger man's throat.

"Ken-Kenpachi-taichou," Ukitake stuttered and lowered the sword, "-I apologize. You took me by surprise"

Kenpachi didn't immediately recognize the man in front of him, but then the facial expression reminded him of someone.

"Ukitake-taichou? Is that you?" Kenpachi then gathered and then loudly laughed and clapped Ukitake on the shoulder so hard he damn well nearly knocked the wind out of him.

"You survived," Ukitake then gathered.

"It's going to take more than that to kill me. Anyway where's old man Yamamoto?"

"He died," Ukitake answered. Kenpachi's expression changed radically.

"Really? When and how?"

"He died some two weeks ago from his wounds after fighting Aizen,"

"Aizen that bastard! Any news of his whereabouts?" Ukitake stared at the man. It suddenly hit him! Wasn't it strange that Kenpachi, who was thought to be dead, appears two weeks after Aizen's killed? However, he could do nothing without evidence and had to play along.

"I killed him the day after Yamamoto died. The war's over! What lies ahead is the rebuilding of Soul Society"

Kenpachi stared back into those cold ice blue eyes.

"I'm buying you a beer later!" Kenpachi said and turned around to leave the room.

"There's a captains meeting in half an hour, Kenpachi-taichou"

Kenpachi grunted something and disappeared through the door. Ukitake was left to his thoughts again. Was he just being paranoid or could Aizen have tricked him into believing that he had killed him? Though he did act very much like Kenpachi.

The Captains Hall hummed with tension when Ukitake entered though including himself there only were 7 captains left; Soi Fong, Unohana, Byakuya, Shunsui, Hitsugaya and now Kenpachi as well, thank God. To make it all add up had been very hard, but now he had finally found the new captains.

"Good afternoon," Ukitake greeted and placed himself in the end of the rows, "we might just get to it.

As you can see Kenpachi has returned somewhat safely and will off course still be running the 11th division. However, there are a few people that will be appointed as captains today and you might as well them now."

The eastern exit opened and 5 people appeared, all known by the Soul Society.

Ukitake continued: "I'm glad to say that both Yoruichi and Urahara have agreed to come back and help with the rebuild.

Yoruichi will be leading 3rd division, Kurosaki has kindly agreed to take responsibility of 5th, Renji will be taking on the 7th division, Hisagi Shuuhei will be taking over for Komamura, and finally will Urahara go back to 12th.

Does anyone have objections to this?" It pleased him that no one did.

"What about the 13th division, Ukitake-soutaichou?" Baykuya asked in his monotone voice.

"For now I'll appoint Rukia as my fukutaichou of 13th and let her handle the daily business, but she will answer to me until she is found ready to take on the division on her own. Are there any objections to this?"

Again no one objected, however, this time it was a strained silence. They all felt it. Byakuya asked the question they all wanted to ask: "How about you, Ukitake-taichou? Do you have your reiatsu under control or have you killed Aizen only to make Soul Society a new enemy?"

Ukitake immediately felt the anger inside him intensify. How dared he?


	3. Chapter 3

The Inevitable End – chapter 3

Ukitake found a little time for himself that evening. It would have been a calm pleasant evening if it wasn't for the stress of planning and the working on the resurrection of Soul Society as they knew before Aizen had defected. The sound of hammers smashing again metal and orders being shouted and general chatter amongst people. It almost seemed like the city didn't sleep anymore; it was constantly changing, almost moving…almost breathing.

He knew he needed to contact the water spirit in his zanpaktu, he simply had to. He knew these outbursts, where he lost control simply was unforgivable. With his level of reiatsu, he could kill just by existing if he didn't rein the force within him.

Ukitake tried to find peace in the garden behind his private quarters, tried to see the beauty in the cherry blossoms, tried to hear the calming trickling on water. He sat down on the ground, breathing remarkably deep, unsheathed the sword and placing it in his lap and waited.

And waited.

His body just wouldn't calm down! His heart rate was way too fast and his hands were trembling. He sighed; he had to find peace. He simply had to!

The situation sort of reminded him of the very first time he made contacts with the two spirits. The electricity spirit was wild and out going and fairly easy to approach, but the water spirit was shy and illusive. The first time she ever spoke to him, he had been in a trance for two days straight and he had to listen very carefully to hear anything she said. It was like her voice travelled through kilometres of water and once he heard it, he wasn't quite that it wasn't just his imagination. She had spoken to him on other occasions as well and it had been the same, it was like her voice was made of dreams and imagination.

He got a reaction from the sword! It was weak at first, but it grew steadily stronger. Pulsating, increasing the force of impact like wave after wave of reiatsu hitting him again and again.

She was angry and Ukitake soon felt the overwhelming emotions that she forced upon him. The forced of the reiatsu waves kept on increasing to the point where he could barely contain them, much less withstand them. Each one of them brought pain with it and knocked the air right out of his lungs.

He tried to make contact with her, but she refused, sending the waves crashing against him with increasing frequency to the point where his strength gave out on him and his smashed against the dirt as he tried to support his own weight, which suddenly seemed to have tripled.

His breathing was erratic and shallow and much to his surprise he felt his consciousness slip away. He felt so weak, so insignificant as he slumped to the ground

"_I'm sorry_," he whispered with the last bit of awareness he managed to hold to until the world turned dark.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Something wet ran down his cheek and he sat up in an instant, panting almost uncontrollably. It was morning. It was raining.

He was thinking immensely slow, he realized. There was this load buzzing noise filling his head clouding his every thought, his every movement.

He gave himself a moment to gather his thoughts. His was still in the garden. His sword lay on the soaking ground and he noticed that he was quite drenched himself, his white hair clinging to his face.

His _white_ hair!

His breath caught in his throat as he thought… had she forgiven him or had she condemned him?

There was no way of knowing until time revealed the answer. He sighed heavily; he had been condemned his whole life. Why did it matter now?

He didn't fear death, but he did, however, fear dying and it bothered him to know that when he died, Shunsui would probably follow quickly. Shunsui joked about that sometimes when he was particularly drunk and Ukitake hated it.

With difficulty he got on his feet and sighed again; he wouldn't let Shunsui follow him to where he was headed.

Today he felt old.

In the midst of battle when byakuya suggests that they attack him when he's weakest, Shunsui protests "can't you see he's being self destructive? His pride won't allow him to continue this way…

I saw it right from the beginning. He didn't allow himself any rest, worked all day at rebuilding soul society until he completely lost control.

"Why did he do this in the first place, if he knew we couldn't beat him?"

"well, I figured he thought that he was the only one who could defeat aizen, and that I might have been able to stop him! Can't you see that he's sacrificing himself?"

Toshirou steps in and 'freezes' the water in the air in ukitake's lungs - then Ukitake starts coughing. Badly so. He keeps fighting though, in the end passing out

"ah, Ukitake… you never told me that your bankai's fool proof," Shunsui whispered with a hint of desperation.

(TIDAL WAVE PROBLEM) toshirou will freeze the damn thing and then passes out, having overtaxed his reiatsu.

Urahara construct something to help Ukitake to keep the bad part of his sword under control


	4. Chapter 4

**The Inevitable End – chapter 4**

The first division's fukutaichou Sasakibe was surprised when it seemed he released a breath, he didn't know he was holding when Ukitake arrived at the office that morning with white hair again. He had been rather intimidated by the black haired personality, he honest to God didn't know that Ukitake had it in him. He was therefore extremely relieved, he had sensed the tension between the captains, but his propriety forbade him to ask the white haired captain how he did it.

Sasakibe fukutaichou treated him as he had so far; handing the captain his papers and informing him about the day's duties.

Ukitake quietly took it and listened, but only gave a nod in acknowledgement and then disappeared behind the Soutaichou's office doors.

However, even if the rest of Soul Society was relieved, Ukitake certainly was not. It had barely been two hours since he woke up drenched in his garden and he was already beginning to feel the physical effect of what he had put his body through the last couple of weeks; The 18-hour days he had been putting in, his unevenly sleep schedule, and the pressure of the general worry that filled his mind with the task they tried to overcome; there were still residents that didn't have a dry place to sleep at night in Soul Society.

He was sore all over from the physical abuse that the wave spirit had inflicted on him and above all, he was tired, but he needed to get to work. With the large replacement of captains all the captain's duties had to be redefined. This was not a small task, but since he was one of the oldest he was the right man for the job, he could practically recall every incidence they had been challenged with since he was made captain.

He also had to prepare a set of bills to be presented to the Central 46 Chambers, which also just had been restored after the Aizen massacre. Their role had also been redefined as the legislating power, not just as an instance that judges captains and regular Shinigami. Their laws had hardly been modified for 2000 years and Ukitake found that the time was right at the moment for such changes, with the public mistrusting the Gotei for having brought war to their homes and families. Lives had been lost.

That trust was something they had to work on to regain. Seireitei was nothing without the public's support.

Last but not least there was a slight political crisis about the royalty wanting greater influence in electing the civil servants. This could not be allowed, but the matter had to be dealt with with extreme caution and discretion. This was something that could result in mass demonstrations and general chaos if this information ever reached the public.

At that moment Kiyone walked through the door with a steaming cup of tea in her hands.

"Ukitake-taichou, I thought you might like some tea," she exclaimed in her usual enthusiastic voice and put the cup down on the table. Ukitake looked at her; she had become a little more mature after the war and it also help that he had separated her from Kotsubaki, whom still resided in the 13th division under Rukia's keen eye. She was actually starting to look more like her sister, Isane.

"Thank you, Kiyone," he smiled and took a sip of the hot tea. He definitely needed the warmth.

"May I be the first to say how pleased I am to see you back to your normal self," she began over enthusiastically again, seemingly forgetting that Kotsubaki wasn't there to compete with her.

Ukitake merely smiled and Kiyone, satisfied with the reaction was about to leave when Ukitake stopped her.

"Kiyone, could you see to that Kuchiki-taichou comes by my office later? It's important," Ukitake asked with seriousness written all over his face.

"Yes, sir! I shall! When?"

"Just when he can see time off, but it must be today!"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Later that day Shunsui damn well nearly knocked the door off and in the same time nearly causing Ukitake to suffer a heart attack.

"Shirou-chan!" he yelled, clearly drunk, but Ukitake couldn't help but to laugh at the happy statement. But then Shunsui stumbled and the smile that had graced his lips dissipated.

"Isn't it a little early in the day to be drinking?"

"Ah, Jyuu!" Shunsui yelled and sat down in the chair in front of the desk, "-It's never too early to drink good sake. You should try some."

Ukitake was shocked! Had his best friend's alcohol consumption developed before his very eyes.

"So what are you doing?" Shunsui asked.

"What you should be doing as well," Ukitake answered.

"Oh, what's that?"

"Paperwork," Ukitake replied. Shunsui laughed hard, and sarcastically, Ukitake noted. He seemed sad. How could he not have noticed that?

"Can I help?" Shunsui asked and ripped Ukitake from his chain of thought.

"With what?" Ukitake asked bewildered. Shunsui suddenly appeared sober again.

"Paperwork, silly!"

"I, I suppose," Ukitake began, "-you're as old as I am, so you should be able to remember most of it too."

"Remember what?

"I'm defining each division's focus field based on what the Gotei has been through."

"Just write it down?" Shunsui asked in confunsion.

"Yes."

"Sure! Well, at the very least I know my own. Hand me a piece of paper," Shunsui demanded and Ukitake obeyed, surprised at Shunsui's eager to help out. When Shunsui fell silent and started writing then Ukitake followed suit.

"Done!" yelled Shunsui and proudly placed the paper in front of Ukitake.

"What?! You haven't spent 20 seconds on it!" but Shunsui seemed undeterred. Ukitake read it out loud.

"The 8th division shall be in charge of the general sake purchasing and consumption thereof. Furthermore the 8th division is the best and can totally beat the crap out of 11th,"

Shunsui laughed so hard he could hardly stay on the chair.

"What is this? Ukitake asked

"It's funny," Shunsui answered, wiping the smirk of his face.

"Get out, Shunsui! Some of us have work to do," Ukitake whispered, hiding his visage in his hand, massaging his temples. He just didn't have time for this.

"Are you angry, old friend?" Shunsui asked, still with humour in his tone.

Ukitake slammed his fist on the table and rose in an instant.

"No, Shunsui! I'm frustrated. Here I am putting 18 hours in a day, considering all that needs to be done. No, not just me! Every captain is working themselves half to death and here you are, Shunsui; drunk of your face. Not only are you wasting your own time that could have been used on something productive, but you are wasting mine as well! How can you do it? You've seen how the outer districts are struggling. How can you sleep at night?!"

Ukitake immediately regretted it, but he knew it was too late to take it back. Shunsui face was practically grey when he rose, bowed and left the office. Ukitake slumped back against the chair and sighed. Now he had done it. He considered for a moment running after Shunsui, but he reasoned that it would get him nowhere.

He made himself get back to work and close everything out. The sun was setting when it knocked on the door.

"Come in," Ukitake answered and coughed. It wasn't until then that he noticed that his chest was uncomfortably tight.

Byakuya came in.

"Ukitake Soutaichou," he greeted.

"Kuchiki-taichou," Ukitake replied, mimicking Byakuya's tone, "- please, have a sit." The black haired taichou obeyed and waited for Ukitake to state his purpose for the meeting. Uncomfortable silence was apparently not a phenomenon that Byakuya was familiar with, Ukitake noted.

"I'm sure that you are familiar with the situation about the royalty," Ukitake began and continued when Kuchiki nodded, "-It's in our interest to avoid a mass riot, especially now when the Gotei is still so weak."

Ukitake sighed; he knew what he was asking was in the grey area, "-You are the one that's closest to the higher society."

"I've never met the royal family nor have I any connections to them," Byakuya interrupted. Ukitake nodded.

"I know. You see, I don't think that it's the royal family that's behind the demand," Ukitake explained. Realization dawned upon Kuchiki.

"I shall look into it," he replied.


	5. Chapter 5

**The Inevitable End – Chapter 5**

When the clock struck midnight Ukitake forced himself to stop and catch some sleep before he would continue the work even though he could hardly afford it. He rationalized that he hardly afford not to rest. He knew at some point his body would shut down on him if he kept pushing it.

As if on cue he coughed; a deep heavy cough, but he noted with some satisfaction that it was a controlled attack and rose to find his way back to his private quarters.

To his surprise he found that there still was a person in the office.

"Sasakibe-fukutaichou, are you still here?" Ukitake asked with a chuckle. The guy was possibly even older than himself.

"Yes, sir!" Sasakibe answered dutifully even though it was evident that he was tired, "-so are you I can see."

"Yes, but not for long I assure you! Get some sleep, Sakakibe. You look like you could use it." Sakakibe smiled knowingly.

"With all due respect, sir; I think you look worse than I," Sakakibe started, knowing that he was being quite bold, "-I will if you will."

Ukitake laughed, but it ended with a couple of wheezy coughs. Sasakibe furrowed his brow; he hadn't worked with Ukitake before, but that didn't mean that he hadn't heard about the captain's devastating illness, mostly from Yamamoto. Though that Yamamoto may have seemed like it, he cared very much for his two prize students; it had bothered him very much whenever Ukitake fell ill or Shunsui drank too much.

"Don't worry. I promise to lie down before I fall down," Ukitake said with such a convincing smile that Sasakibe couldn't help but to return it, "Then good night, Sasakibe-fukutaichou."

Ukitake hardly remembers how he got back home or how he got into bed, but somehow he managed to do so.

It only felt like he had been a sleep for 5 minutes when he was rudely awakened by a persistent sun beam and to his disappointment he felt no less tired than he had felt in the evening. His back hurt like hell from all the hours behind the desk and he felt it pop several times as he straightened up. It was already six o'clock and he desperately needed a shower.

Barely had he taken a step before he starting coughing; all the phlegm that had gathered in his lungs due to the chronic infection during the night demanded to be cleared out. He couldn't control this attack and it was demanding every bit of self control he had to not panic.

It felt like his lungs were on the verge of collapsing inwards and the life upholding oxygen were just ripped from his chest. His vision blackened around the edges and tears formed in his eyes from the strain that the attack was forcing upon his body.

Just as his knees began to weaken the cough slowly dissipates, leaving him panting for air and his body trembling.

He stood there for a while, just breathing, waiting for his body to respond as it was suppose to. To think that he had almost forgotten how it felt like to suffer an attack. He was only lucky that no blood had been drawn and that he hadn't lost consciousness.

Slowly, ever so slowly he took to his doings again, but he was a little more careful not to wind himself.

After a refreshing shower he walked to the first division, not using shunpo ad he normally would. Ukitake was rather pleased to discover that Sasakibe hadn't met in yet. He hated to make others sacrifice their personal life.

However, he did find another captain in his office. A certain dark skinned purple haired was waiting for him.

"Yoruichi-taichou!" Ukitake exclaimed with genuine surprise in his voice. Yoruichi wasn't exactly known for being an early bird. The cat like woman smiled and when she chuckled it almost sounded like a purr.

"Jyuu, no reason for formality!" she said and crossed her arms, "-you look like hell!"

"oh," Ukitake merely replied, "-you on the other hand look as though you're thriving with your new position," he coughed the last couple of words out and Yoruichi immediately caught the rattling sound that signalled that the man wasn't just clearing his throat. She was not one who would approach such matters with caution.

"Sounds like your lungs has had enough already," she commented, obviously with an examining look.

"It sounds worse than it is," Ukitake answered bluntly while he sat in the comfortable chair behind the desk. He didn't need to be mothered; he just didn't have the patience. Yoruichi was an extremely good people observer and she noticed the edge to his voice as well.

"Who are you and what have you done with Ukitake?" she asked with a crooked smile.

"Yoruichi, what is it that you want?" Ukitake asked tiredly.

"Just to check our new soutaichou… and ask what happened between you and Shunsui," she answered truthfully. That caught Ukitake by surprise.

"Why is that?

"Well, he has been sitting in my office since yesterday, drinking like a fish. I'm not saying he's a nuisance or anything… I'm just saying that," she sighed, "-he's really miserable."

Yoruichi had no idea just how sad it made him to hear that.

"We had an argument," Ukitake explained, "-and I fear that his alcohol problem has evolved again."

Yoruichi's smile faded fast, she remembered the last time that had been the case. She was about to answer when Ukitake started coughing lightly. It looked as though he was in control, but slowly it escalated into a full fledged attack that stole his breath away.

Yoruichi ignored it until she saw the white haired man's eyes go cloudy with intense pain. The sound his chest produced was sickening; a hollow loud rattling that lead Yoruichi's thoughts to just how much lung tissue the man had left.

"Ukitake, should I…?" she began, but even if he shook his head, she recognized that this could go wrong. She produced a hell butterfly and sent it directly to 4th and then turned her attention back to Ukitake that hadn't gained control over the attack yet. Ukitake's hand flew to his chest when the pain visibly intensified and his breath began to make this gurgling sound between the spasms.

"Oh, for the King's sake, Ukitake! Relax! Breathe," Yoruichi ordered as she helped him slump back against the chairs back. It was with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that she noticed that his lips had turned blue. The attack was taking too much out of him and he lost consciousness, going limb in the chair.

Yoruichi had seen him like this only once before and she knew to keep his airways unobstructed. She put her delicate hand under his chin and lifted up gently and blinked away the tears that formed in her eyes. His breathing was terribly shallow and wheezing badly.

He was fortunately only out for about a minute, but barely had he regained his senses before his chest seized again and blood spattered unto his hand.

Yoruichi could do nothing but observe and hope that 4th would respond quickly to her butterfly, but she notice that Ukitake was now coughing softer, which either meant that he was close to complete exhaustion or that the attack was retreating. However, judging from the blood she doubted the latter possibility.

Unohana came through the door with her whole aura of calm and went directly to Ukitake without asking any questions. She took in all the symptoms; the sound of the coughing, the blood on his bluish lips, and his hazy eyes. She took his pulse and in the same time she discovered that he was trembling. He was so exhausted that he could barely keep his eyes open.

"We need to get him back to fourth," she said. Yoruichi nodded, "-where's Shunsui?"

"He isn't here," Yoruichi answered. She knew why Unohana wanted him – he had specialized in shunpo while carrying an ailing Ukitake, "-I can carry him," she offered and Unohana smiled gratefully.

Suddenly the door opened and revealed yet another taichou. Byakuya looked as serious as he had done and immediately sought out the pale Ukitake. Despite Ukitake being on the verge of exhaustion, upon seeing Byakuya he straightened up, produced a handkerchief and wiped the blood away from his lips.

"I have news," Byakuya said and Ukitake nodded.

"Would you… excuse us for a minute," Ukitake asked with a pathetic whisper. Yoruichi couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You need to get some rest. You should be in the hospital wing!" Yoruichi exclaimed!

"This will only…," he coughed into the handkerchief, "-take a minute."

"Yes, Ukitake-soutaichou. We will be waiting outside," Unohana gently answered and pulled Yoruichi out the door with her. Ukitake winced at Unohana's formality, that was a sure sign that she thought what he was doing was wrong. That what even worse than Yoruichi's evident discontent.

He signalled that Byakuya could begin whenever he was ready.

"It seems that the royal family has a new spokesman in Seireitei. No one knows anything about him, but there hasn't been any questioning against his authority," Byakuya reported. Ukitake nodded.

"Could you...," Ukitake started, but was interrupted by the blasted cough again.

"Should I continue investigate him?" Byakuya offered and again Ukitake nodded behind closed eyes.

"Involve Soi Fong," Ukitake coughed out. Byakuya was about to protest but realized the genius thought behind the statement. Byakuya bowed and left the room.

Ukitake saw the two other captains enter the room again, but he had lost his hearing and his vision blackened again as it had done this morning.

Please review! Constructive criticism is the best!


	6. Chapter 6

The Inevitable End – chapter 6

He felt so weak! His mind was sluggish, his limbs heavy and his chest was painfully tight. It was sheer discomfort that woke him up otherwise if felt like he could have continued sleeping until the end of days.

He felt the presence of someone slumbering in a chair by the side of the bed.

"Shunsui?" Ukitake ventured. The person stirred.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but no," answered a characteristic female voice. Something a kind to a smile spread to his spread to his all too pale lips.

"You could never disappoint me, Yoruichi," he spoke barely above a whisper, but the message got through and although she had been freezing terribly his words warmed her more than any blanket would have.

However, that feeling was quickly replaced with worry again as she saw him lying there in the bed. His breathing continued to wheeze although Unohana had worked herself to exhaustion and he was so pale. He had fought way too hard to get back this time.

It seemed that the road to recovery became longer and longer for every attack he suffered. A tear formed in her eye, when she thought, one day he'll get lost on the way.

Ukitake's breathing steadied again and he fell asleep. Yoruichi decided that a certain captain needed a wake up call.

She didn't know it would be so literal, she had thought that midnight would have been the right time to approach him.

She couldn't find out if she glad or disappointed to find him fast asleep. At least he wasn't drinking then. He was sprawled all over the couch in the 8th division's headquarter with that ridiculous haori draped over him and the hat over his face, snoring loudly.

She took the bull by the horns and ripped him of the couch

"Ouch!" Shunsui yelped. He hadn't at all sensed Yoruichi presence, but he hid his surprise behind a crooked smile, "-what makes a cute girl such as you seek me out in the middle of night?" His voice was thick with flirtation.

"Aw, Shunsui," Yoruichi started, placing her hand on her hip, "-we've been through this. You know you can't handle me!" Shunsui gracefully got to his feet which testified to that he actually wasn't all that drunk. He closed in on her with open arms.

"I'm willing to give it a go," he offered still wearing that ridiculous smile. Yoruichi shook her head.

"What happened between you and Ukitake?"

Never had she seen a smile vanish faster; "-he said that you had had an argument," Yoruichi continued. Shunsui sat back down and he did not meet Yoruichi's eyes.

"We did," Shunsui chuckled, "-he yelled at me."

"Ukitake yelled at YOU? How the hell did you manage to get him to do that?" Yoruichi replied disbelievingly, "-unless you're going to execute one of his subordinates he's pretty amiable!"

"Yes, exactly," he answered solemnly, "-all the more reason to take what he said seriously."

"So you're still friends?"  
"Yes, I was just taken aback," Shunsui sighed,"-I had no idea that he saw me that way."

Yoruichi studied him a little closer.

"What did he say to you?" she asked and Shunsui avoided her gaze again.

"It doesn't matter – it was the truth," he answered, "-what makes ask all these questions? Has he sent you?" Yoruichi laughed.

"I'm not sent by anyone! You know that! However, I did sense that something was off between you two when you weren't by his side when he took ill," Shunsui spun around.

"He has taken ill?"

"Yes, this morning. He's in 4th right now and woke up briefly a half an hour ago," she answered.

"How bad was it?" Shunsui asked in a low serious tone.

"Pretty bad. He hasn't quite been sparing himself these last couple of months; I suppose it's catching up with him now." The look on Shunsui's face tore her heart into a thousand pieces. He looked so sad… so old, especially with the pink haori draped over the couch instead of his shoulders.

"I'd better go and check on him then."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

When they arrived back in 4th a very different scenario than they expected awaited them. Instead of a tranquil dark hospital room, everything seemed in motion and about ten people occupied the room. Shunsui and Yoruichi felt the heart drop.

"Retsu!" Shunsui yelled and shot forward in the crowd, knocking over a desperate looking Hanataro.

"Not now, Shunsui! Wait outside!" Unohana answered from inside the middle of the crowd, clearly busy with something else. Shunsui got the message and turned to Hanataro that still lay on the floor. Slightly panicking he just ripped Hanataro by the collar.

"What's happening?" he yelled, his usual jovial expression long gone.

"He… he… he," Hanataro stuttered, "-he's had a relapse!"

All the colour drained from Shunsui's face and Yoruichi actually stumbled when she briefly lost the feeling in her legs as she realized that she couldn't hear his breathing. The wheezing had stopped, not a sound besides the hard working 4th division squad members could be heard.

The overwhelming healing spirit pressure of Unohana filled the air and it was so powerful that all but those of captain level was forced to the floor.

Shunsui knew what this meant; Unohana had been forced to release bankai! Even though he was distressed by this fact, he knew than to disturb Unohana while she was working on Ukitake.

The pressure intensified even further and Shunsui realized that it was a life and death struggle that his friend was fighting.

It continued until early in the morning when finally the spirit pressure dissolved and the two captains stormed into the room where they were met by a worn Unohana.

Ukitake was white as the sheets he lay on, but to Yoruichi and Shunsui's great relief; he was breathing. However, his lips were a bluish purple and blood in a spatter pattern covered the blanket that warmed his weak body.

"His soul?" Shunsui asked. Unohana sighed with a small smile.

"His soul is fine, but he's still very unstable. Something inside him seems determined to destroy him."

"Has is not always been that way?" Shunsui asked dumbfound.

"Not like this," Unohana answered.

Please review!


	7. Chapter 7

**The Inevitable End – chapter 7**

Ukitake had just been discharged from 4th, but it had not been with Unohana's good will. It had taken him a full week just to get out of bed and another 3 days to get functional again. He wasn't what one would call well at all, but he had business to attend to. Urgent business; Byakuya and Soi Fong hadn't been seen in a week and people were starting to ask questions.

Ukitake admitted that he had a few questions of his own that he wanted answered. However, the matter was still one that needed to be addressed with extreme caution and going public with this vague theory was definitely out of the question. The mission was still a secret.

He hadn't even told Shunsui about it and it was tormenting him, especially with Shunsui helping him out with all the paperwork and general organization of the Gotei 13. He really had put in an effort and Nanao was just speechless. She never knew he had it in him.

Ukitake couldn't but smile a little. Shunsui had shown once in a while in history that he was indeed capable of doing some serious work in admirable quantities when he set his mind to it.

"What are you smiling at?" a female voice rang through the room and he gave a start, he hadn't noticed anyone entering the office. It was Yoruichi, dressed all up in her captain's gear, which she didn't normally wear – she generally hated formality.

"Oh, nothing," Ukitake answered, "-just the good old days."

"That so?" She commented and circled around the desk taking in the pale ailing form of the commander. He had definitely lost weight – frightfully much. His cheekbones were much more defined and now that the captain's coat were draped over the chair instead of his shoulders it was clear that the rest of his body probably looked the same way. She remembered his once powerful shoulders, but now only bone remained.

"When I heard Unohana had discharged you I didn't believe them," she started, "-but I can see now that it was true. Still, you do not look someone who should be out of bed just yet."

Ukitake sighed and leaned back in to the comfortable chair.

"I might have taken a couple of days more recuperating if it was the good old days. However, it is not and I have a lot more responsibility these days. Being captain-commander turns out to be rather time consuming," he cut short as the cough took a hold of him. It was still was still a wet heavy cough and by the look in his eyes, still painful. Fortunately the spasm only lasted about a minute, but it was evident that it stole valuable energy from him.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked him.

"Doing what?"

"This! Working your self to death!"

"Let's hope it won't come to that," he replied with a smile in an attempt to charm her a little, but it was completely wasted on her at the moment, "-there are a lot of things that need to be done. I have more or less 2 offices, one foreign after wartime. I'm in command of 13 offices with a lot of new captains and with Soul Society politically unstable it's not just a full time job. It will get better once we gain control completely again and the new captains find their place, but for now it's every waking hour."

"An unstable Gotei needs a strong leader, don't forget that. If you die, who's qualified to take over your position," Yoruichi reasoned in a low voice, "-I know it's a cold way to put it, but no one is ready to succeed you yet. We need to make you last for at least another 50 years."

Even though it was a slightly morbid thought, she was right. No one was ready yet; Byakuya could be prepared for the job, but he would still need a couple of years of work before that would happen, the same with Yoruichi. And secondly Byakuya would probably refuse the position, he was already head of the Kuchiki house, which took a lot out of him.

Unbeknownst to Ukitake, Yoruichi tilted her head and studied him intently before she realized what hid beneath the thoughtful look he was wearing.

"Oh no," she began, "- you hadn't even considered that. I just gave you something new to worry about." She massaged her temples; the man was hopeless, but sweet. He tried to please everyone.

"You could make me worry a lot less if you would agree to begin the training here in the 1st division. I've been through it all with Yamamoto, I'm sure I could teach you a thing or two," Ukitake suggested and for a moment Yoruichi was completely taken aback. Her perfectly formed lips moved several times, but no sound was made.

But then she put on her trademark grin, "-do you thing you could teach an old cat new tricks?"

"Absolutely"

"One condition captain-commander Ukitake"

"Oh, what would that be?" he asked, genuinely curious as he sat up straight again, arms leaning on the table.

"Once you're well again, I want you to help me get stronger," she answered with a smile, "-I want you to spar with me."

Ukitake's smiled faded a little, he could use the sparring himself, but there were other matters that should be taken into account.

"My bankai is not suited for sparring, I'm afraid, but otherwise than that, I'm willing to accept," he answered.

"Excellent!" she said with a touch of satisfaction, "-a perhaps one more thing."

She to a couple of steps closer, facing Ukitake on the opposite side of the desk and then leaned in, revealed just a bit of cleavage. She continued to crawl across the desk in a distinct feline fashion, enjoying that she had Ukitake's undivided attention.

"One more thing?" he asked, not revealing any emotion. She loved that.

"Perhaps to take things up, where we left them a long time ago," she purred in a seductive tone, stopping her movements, her lips only inches from his. She let her self go in those bottomless chestnut brown eyes and closed the gap between them slowly, ever so slowly and it was with pleasure that she noticed that his breathing was increasing, even if the rest of him was still unresponsive.

She began nibbling at his lips and he took in a sharp breath. Suddenly she felt his fingers ghost over her jaw line all the way under her chin and she felt shivers coarse through her body as his lip fully embraced hers. She didn't know why, but her body always responded intensely to his touch.

The kiss was long and deep felt as if they both had waited a thousand years just for this one kiss. That was what he loved about Yoruichi; somehow she made everything feel new and intense. They broke apart and he opened his eyes again to meet Yoruichi's golden gaze.

"I think we could find some sort of arrangement," he whispered and accidentally touched her lips again and instantly her body responded.

"Good. Have you told anyone of our last 'arrangement'?" she asked, keeping the proximity of the situation intact.

"No, not even Shunsui," he answered, "how about you?"

"Nope, not even Kisuke. Not even Soi Fong," she replied. It was a mutual understanding they had; it would only compromise their work if their relationship ever came out in the open, even if it had been put on hold for a while. Their lips met again in a brief, chaste kiss before Yoruichi elegantly got off the desk and walked out the office, not saying one word, not looking back.

Ukitake smiled; if there was something Yoruichi was good at, it was playing hard to get. She always left him longing for more.

He looked at the closed door again, sighed, but smiled nevertheless.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

It was in the late afternoon he felt it. It was very, very weak, perhaps so weak that he was the only one who would be able to intercept it. It was Byakuya's reiatsu.

He placed it in the outskirts of Seireitei and he had an unnerving feeling that something was wrong. As he tried to examine the reiatsu closer, which was demanding from this distance, he got out of the chair and put his captain's coat back on.

The reiatsu didn't reveal any movement or activity, which only added to the suspense. He coughed hard, he really had to stop for today, but the keyword on this mission was secrecy. He had to go.

He flash stepped, carefully trying not to wind him self too badly – he wouldn't be able to afford it. It was difficult; with his lung capacity he had to take two breaks just to reach his destination. He ended up in the poor part of the Seireitei in a dark alley and he definitely felt Byakuya a little further ahead. He continued even though his chest was beginning to hurt, a dull burning pain that filled him from within.

He quickly made his way around a corner to find a shape, sitting down, leaning against the wall. It was unmistakably Byakuya, his head piece was broken and his hair cascading down his shoulders. He met Ukitake's eyes without saying anything; it seemed he was too tired.

Then Ukitake noticed the blood on the ground. He hadn't seen it earlier because it was so dark and he immediately got to work, taking a closer look on Byakuya.

His clothes was ripped to pieces and he had wounds all over his body… almost like… almost like he had been attacked by Senbonsakura. He was bleeding badly and Ukitake had to perform a healing kidou on him to stop it. Fortunately he had watched the healers perform it so many times on himself that he could replicate it to perfection.

Something stirred next to Byakuya; It was Soi Fong! How could he not have noticed! He must've focused so hard on Byakuya's reiatsu that he had blocked everything else out. To his horror she possibly looked even worse than Byakuya, but the pattern was the same with wounds all over.

He performed the kidou on her as well, but noticed how much harder it was to conjure the second time. The pain in his chest was increasing, which meant that he was pushing himself too hard.

With a final effort he produced two hell butterflies; one to fourth, requesting immediate assistance and one to Shunsui – he was going to need help to get home.

"What happened?" he asked, meeting Byakuya's eyes as Soi Fong was unconscious.

"The spokesman," Byakuya began, "-felt like Aizen!"


	8. Chapter 8

**The Inevitable End – Chapter 8**

Ukitake actually managed some decent sleep that night – mostly because he was so exhausted that he couldn't keep his eyes open.

Byakuya and Soi Fong had been taken to fourth and were expected to make a swift recovery, but a haze of uncertainty had settled over the Gotei 13 after the name of Aizen had reappeared.

Ukitake just didn't have the energy to face all the questions and strange looks he was getting. It ended with that he isolated himself in the office and he had to admit that Sasakibe did a mighty good job chasing people out that didn't have any business there.

All the turmoil was stressing him out and it was causing him to cough a lot more than he should have done, every once in a while there were a little blood in the coughed up phlegm. His core muscles were burning from the strain from the involuntary movements. Sasakibe working just outside heard everything off course, but he was very discreet and he only brought in steaming green tea more often than he would have otherwise.

His recent bout of illness hadn't set him terribly back because of Shunsui's great help with the paper work. There were some of the major cases that he hadn't had any knowledge about and therefore couldn't take of. These were the ones he was sitting with at the moment and still had to present that bill in the Central 46 chambers, but now would be a bad time because of the whole Aizen scare. His credibility was temporarily compromised.

He was quite positive that he had killed Aizen back then, but he couldn't help but wonder; his bankai was the perfect illusion. Could Aizen have tricked one of the great forces of nature and thereby have tricked him into believing that he had killed him in order to be able to strike later.

Ukitake leaned back, but immediately shot forward again as a coughing attack hit him hard and he embraced himself, as if to keep his ribs in place. The liquids in his chest rattled terribly and blood hastily made it's way up through his wind pipe. The taste was sickening, making his stomach turn as well.

The blood splattered unto his hand and unto the documents he was working on and it took all his self control and a couple of more wheezy coughs before he was able to suppress the attack.

He was left short breathed, wheezing, and bleeding.

_Not again_! This was too soon after his last major attack; his lungs were still weak and with the cough destroying his lung tissue before he had time to heal, his lung function was drastically decreasing.

Someone knocked at the door.

"Sir?" Sasakibe asked and proceeded to open the door.

"Not right now, Sasakibe," Ukitake tried to stop him, but it was too late, Sasakibe had already entered. The vice dropped the tea cup he had been holding at the macabre sight that was him presented.

Blood covered his captain's lips and was trickling down his chin. The desk and his captain's white coat were also bloodied.

Ukitake was so pale and looked so sad.

"Don't worry too much, Sasakibe," Ukitake reassured him with a cough, "-it's not as bad as it looks."

"I can see that, sir," Sasakibe answered, "-because if it was, you would be dead already!"

Ukitake only continued looking at him with those sad eyes and Sasakibe couldn't help but to feel like the captain was sensing his end approaching.

"Sasakibe-fukutaichou, could you summon Urahara-taicou for me? And also if you would be so kind as to request Byakuya to meet with me as soon as he is well enough," Ukitake asked tiredly, completely ignoring the state he was in. Sasakibe could do nothing and it bothered him.

"Yes, sir!" he replied and left the room to send the messages and to find something to wipe the spilled tea up with.

In the mean while Ukitake pulled himself together and found a handkerchief and began cleaning the blood away – if either Shunsui or Yoruichi found him like this, they would kill him before the retched disease had the chance.

However, progress was slow with his trembling limbs, but the blood was slowly coming off his hands and face. He completely gave up on saving the captain's coat and he just threw it away and he accidentally coughed again when he sat down. He had tried not to, but his lungs insisted on getting the blood out and the handkerchief got even more soiled.

He certainly was a mess!

He promised himself that he would go straight to bed as soon as he had that chat with Urahara.

Urahara came in about an hour later and Ukitake was rather pleased to see that he wasn't wearing that silly hat. Seriously, the man was possibly more eccentric than Shunsui.

"Sorry for the delay, captain commander Ukitake," he initiated and then laughed, "-that's quite a mouthful." Ukitake merely smiled. He knew that if he laughed he would immediately trigger a coughing fit.

"No need for formality, Urahara – we are far too old for such silliness."

"Speak for yourself, grandpa!" Man, Urahara was making it hard to keep a straight face.

"I'll ignore that for now," Ukitake shot back with a smirk, making a mental note to burry 12th in paper work, or even better; sending them on a very physical training camp for a month, "- now it's down to business. How much do we know about Aizen's bankai?"

"Oh, very little I'm afraid, but Mayuri did manage to infect him with nano bots before he was killed."

"Really!?"

"Yes, and they stopped transmitting data the same second you released your final attack."

"Hm, couldn't that be the electricity that short circuited them?"

"No, we can see that they are still functional. You did kill Aizen, Ukitake. These nano bots are impossible to detect, even for someone like Aizen."

Ukitake leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms.

"Then what was it that took out Byakuya and Soi Fong? Even is they were taken by surprise that is quite an accomplishment for an opponent." Ukitake reasoned.

"That is a very good question," Urahara commented and looked, for a change, rather thoughtful, "-I'll analyse the data more closely. I did notice an abnormality in the data, but I discarded it as flaw. That might have been a mistake."

"What kinda flaw?"

"That's hard to explain, but if you'd like to find out you could come down to 12th and we'll try find out," Urahara offered.

"I would like to, but I need to go to bed," Ukitake answered with a touch of regret in his voice, "-can you handle it alone?

Urahara appeared more serious than he had been in centuries.

"I thought you looked rather ill. Will you be alright, old friend?"

"Yes, yes, I just need some rest," Ukitake answered, not revealing any details.

"Good! I'll see what I can find out until tomorrow," Urahara promised. Ukitake nodded in approval and Urahara left with a rather feminine wave.

Ukitake was just about to get ready to leave the office when he heard commotion outside.

Suddenly Yoruichi came through the door with a big smile on her face and holding two bowls of steaming hot miso soup.

"Hey, Jyuu," she started, "- I thought you looked like someone who could use something to eat!" She placed the bowl in front of Ukitake and sat down opposite of him with her own.

"Arigatou, Yoruichi," he replied politely. However, the smell of the soup was making his stomach turn all over again. Had it been any other day he would have hungrily eaten it, but today everything would taste like blood.

"Go on, eat!" she urged him and dug in herself, but instead of turning his attention to the soup he studied her. She wasn't wearing her captain's coat, but the special forces' uniform with the bare back, revealing her perfect chocolate brown skin.

She seemed so happy with her new situation, captain of the third division and that Urahara had been cleared of all former charges and made captain of 12th again. He had also heard that she was spending a lot more time with her best friend, Soi Fong as well. Her new position suited her – it appeared that she had found some peace to grow some roots, something that she had had difficulty with, earlier in her life.

"You've got to keep your strength up, Ukitake," she pointed out, when she saw that he really wasn't interested in the food. He refrained from answering and turned his attention back to the soup. He picked up the spoon to satisfy Yoruichi, but he just didn't feel like it.

He sort of moved the content around, trying to find something that he could overcome.

"You don't have to look that disgusted – I didn't make it," she said with a grin. Ukitake smiled – he hadn't noticed that he had grimaced like that.

"I'm sorry, Yoruichi. It was very sweet of you to think of me, but I just can't…" Ukitake began, but he couldn't even say the word without getting nauseous, "I just can't"

He moved the bowl the side of desk so he didn't have to look at it. When he met her gaze again she frowned.

"You can hardly afford to lose more weight," she reasoned.

"I know… just trust me, it'll all come back up if I try force it down now. Perhaps something later: rice or bread or something like that," he answered apologetically.

"Hm," she purred dissatisfied and finished her soup in silence.

"By the way, why are you wearing that uniform?" he asked, trying to make conversation.

"Soi Fong requested my help today with training those buffoons she now calls her army," she answered.

"That was harsh."

"It's the truth. Her division is seriously suffering from lack of talent," Yoruichi pointed out, "do you think you could do something to help her? I didn't believe it was this bad until today."

Ukitake, ever the helpful gentleman, agreed.

"Now that we're in the uniform topic," she purred, "- why aren't you wearing your coat, captain-commander?" Ukitake stiffened for just a second.

"I spilled some tea on it earlier, ruining it completely," he replied, trying desperately to make it sound casual.

"oh," she changed her voice just a bit, making it more sensual. She got up, moved around the desk, carelessly exaggerating the movement of her hips and placed herself on his lap. Ukitake took in the scenery and immediately damned his weak health. He longingly kissed her tanned neck while he whispered; "_sweet and bitter, just like chocolate_"

This earned him a loving laugh from Yoruichi and he felt her lips gently caressing his own lips.

"What is that you want with an old man like me?" he asked with a sigh. Yoruichi just laughed again and stood back up.

"Get better soon, old man." She commented as she walked out the office, "I like my chocolate white."


End file.
